Specter Calls for Bush to Speak on Leak

The Republican senator said of Bush’s authorization of the WMD intelligence leak: “We ought to get to the bottom of it so it can be evaluated, again, by the American people.”
Also: Information had been strongly disputed months before Cheney and Libby leaked it.

Posted on Apr 10, 2006 READ MORE  | 6 READS

Faltering of Arab Democracy Is Seen

The New York Times reports that many Middle Eastern countries that made moves toward democracy are now pulling back, emboldened to ignore Bush’s demands in the wake of the Iraq debacle.

Posted on Apr 10, 2006 READ MORE  | 14 READS

In the Vanguard of Criminalizing Abortion

What happens when abortion is a felony offense in any circumstance? Jack Hitt provides chilling answers in his brilliant investigative piece on abortion in El Salvador.

Posted on Apr 9, 2006 READ MORE  | 44 READS

‘Forgers’ of Niger Uranium Contract Named

Remember the uranium ore that Hussein supposedly purchased from Niger? A contract documenting the sale was used as evidence of the need to invade Iraq and was included in a 2002 U.S. State Department fact sheet on Iraq’s weapons program. Remember how the IAEA denounced the documents as fakes shortly before the invasion of Iraq? Well, according to the Times Online, the forgers have finally been named.

Posted on Apr 9, 2006 READ MORE  | 19 READS

Revving Up for Airstrikes on Iran?

Contrary to the official “diplomatic solution” line, Seymour Hersh reports that Washington is stepping up plans for a possible airstrike on Iran. According to Reuters, Hersh’s story in the April 17 issue of The New Yorker reports that a former senior defense official said the planning was, in Hersh’s words, “based on the belief that a bombing campaign against Iran would humiliate the leadership and lead the Iranian public to overthrow it.”  The ex-official reportedly added that he was shocked to hear the strategy.

Posted on Apr 8, 2006 READ MORE  | 31 READS

Whistle-blower: AT&T Colluded With NSA on Wiretaps

AT&T gave the National Security Agency open access to its customers’ phone calls and Web-surfing activities, according to a former AT&T employee cooperating in the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s lawsuit against the company.

The full story and a public statement by the whistle-blower.

Posted on Apr 8, 2006 READ MORE  | 77 READS

Scott Ritter Argues That Iran Poses No Real Threat

Former intelligence officer and United Nations weapons inspector Scott Ritter cuts through a recent L.A. Times story which claimed that “Iran could manufacture enough highly enriched uranium to build a bomb within three years.” He provides a rather technical, but extremely convincing, argument for why it is unlikely that Iran could pose a nuclear threat anytime soon. (video: h/t Crooks and Liars)

Posted on Apr 8, 2006 READ MORE  | 57 READS

Province by Province: A Picture of Worsening Conditions in Iraq

The U.S. Embassy and military in Baghdad issued a revealing province by province report of Iraq’s political, economic and security situation. The “Provincial Stability Assessment” paints a gloomy picture of intensifying sectarian and ethnic frictions and growing instability in many of the provinces profiled.  Funny, our leaders always say how well things are going…

Posted on Apr 8, 2006 READ MORE  | 9 READS

Bomb Blasts Kill 79 at Major Shiite Mosque in Iraq

Suicide bombers dressed in women’s clothes caused the single deadliest blast this year—at a religious bastion of a powerful Shiite party. This, combined with Thursday’s shrine bombing, could escalate the already horrific violence…. (more)

Posted on Apr 7, 2006 READ MORE  | 33 READS

Bush’s Job Approval Rating at All Time Low

Only 36% of the public approves of Bush’s performance,  according to an Ap-Ipsos poll released Friday. The GOP-led Congress fared even worse, with an approval rating of only 30%. Nixon’s numbers were in the high 20s during the Watergate scandal. What’s the magic number for regime change?

Posted on Apr 7, 2006 READ MORE  | 39 READS

No Deal on Immigration

The immigration bill, which seemed to have majority support, failed in the Senate Friday amid efforts to amend the bill. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) called the amendments proposed by conservative Republicans “filibuster by amendment.” So much for the hyped bipartisan compromise on immigration reform.

Posted on Apr 7, 2006 READ MORE  | 16 READS

White House Admits Lag in Bioterror Effort

Bush & Co. still don’t have a comprehensive plan to deal with bioterror threats—despite two years of planning and billions in appropriations. The alleged culprit: bureaucratic inertia.
“I can’t help but think we are not prepared if, God forbid, any of these catastrophes were to be visited upon the United States,” says a congresswoman.

Posted on Apr 6, 2006 READ MORE  | 72 READS

Tame Version of Playboy Hits Jakarta Stands

Islamic hard-liners called the magazine a form of moral terrorism, despite the fact that there are no nude photos in it.
This is reminiscent of what happened in Eastern Europe after the fall of the Iron Curtain when titillating material quickly appeared and then spread like kudzu.
Liberties will always rush to fill a vacuum, just not necessarily in the way favored by religious fundamentalists.

Posted on Apr 6, 2006 READ MORE  | 186 READS

Study: Men Getting Fatter, Women Holding Steady

OK, don’t pop out the champagne—or the pork rinds—yet, but scientists think the leveling off of obesity rates in women may signal a turning point in the nation’s epidemic.

Posted on Apr 6, 2006 READ MORE  | 155 READS

Senate Dems Find Wedge Issue on Abortion

The Senate Democratic leadership will push for expanded access to contraceptives and sex education—a nationally popular move, but a bitter pill for the prudish right-wingers who are desperately afraid that someone, somewhere, may be enjoying a sexual act.

Posted on Apr 6, 2006 READ MORE  | 313 READS